Litter boxes are commonly used where pets are kept indoors, and allow pets to urinate and/or defecate without soiling the room. The pet owner then scoops the waste from the box and disposes of it appropriately. Clumping litters are used to allow both solid and liquid waste to be disposed of in this manner.
Many pet owners would prefer not to have to scoop a litter box. Accordingly, devices that scoop the box automatically have been developed and provide a benefit to many pet owners. For example, the ScoopFree® Self-Cleaning Litter Box rakes the litter automatically and pushes the waste to a container that can easily be removed. Similarly, the Hagen Catlt SmartSift Litter Box uses a sifter controlled by a lever to sift through the litter. Clean litter falls through sifter, while waste clumps are deposited into a waste bin below.
The CatGenie 120 Cat litter box uses washable litter granules instead of disposable litter. The granules are contained in the litter box, where a rake separates and scoops solids into a hopper. Solid wastes are treated with a solution that liquefies them, and liquid waste drains through the granules to a reservoir. The liquid waste and liquefied solids are then flushed away.
The devices presently known to the art do not satisfactorily remove all waste without substantial effort. A need therefore exists for a device that is more automatic and effective. The present invention addresses that need.